Here are all the basics for sewing a busy book by hand. You’ll be able to find most of the supplies that you’ll need to make a busy book / quiet book at your local craft store. Here in Charlotte I found some things at JoAnn’s and some at Michael’s. Or you could just buy all that you need online and have it shipped to you. Just follow the links in this post and add everything to your virtual shopping cart! No need to risk getting germs, having things out of stock in store or standing in line. I wish I had known what exactly I needed for Leo’s busy book as I spent a ton of time at those stores looking at everything. Not that much fun with a toddler in the cart lemme tell ya! But if you have a few hours to yourself, have some fun browsing around your local store for fun add-ons and details!

The links all lead to Amazon product pages and are referral links (meaning I’d get a few cents to help with hosting costs of this website if you purchased through any of the links – the cost is the same to you).

Felt

I wanted an 8x8in (20x20cm) square busy book and didn’t feel like cutting every page. Having felt squares pre-cut makes them nice and uniform and obviously saves me time (love that!). I really really really like this felt by Flic-Flac.

The colors and quality are lovely! It’s a little thicker than your standard felt, which is great to withstand getting touched by toddler hands over and over and over. I used one square as a backdrop per page and then used others to cut into shapes. Buy two sets so you have two sheets of each color!

Needles & Pins

I used pins to hold pieces together while stitching them together with needles and thread.

I bought two pairs of fresh scissors to use for my busy book project. a) Because my husband likes to take and displace scissors. b) Because I wanted to have really sharp, new scissors so the cuts were precise. I got a set that has two different sizes to help with more intricate shapes.

Sewing Pen

I had no idea these magical pens existed! Guys, this thing is incredible! You use this sewing pen to draw on your felt and it magically disappears within hours. I’ve used this puppy all throughout the crafting process for tracing shapes onto the felt and drawing faces on before embroidering them. Get one if you’re making a busy book!

Felt Glue

I wanted the busy book’s pieces to be as sturdy as possible because let’s be honest, toddlers don’t know their strength sometimes… So most shapes I first glued together or in place by placing some felt glue on the shape where I wouldn’t later stitch (it’s hard to stitch through the dried glue).

Velcro

For the puzzle busy book page I used these velcro disks so that felt pieces can be taken off and reattached.

I bought most of my ribbon at brick and mortar craft stores and just picked up a spool of whatever color and pattern I wanted. But this pack on Amazon looks super versatile if you are looking to buy everything online.

Miscellaneous Components

You probably have all sorts of stuff at home already. For example, I used two random buttons as puppy eyes on one busy book page. Looking at every day items as busy book supplies is kind of fun so check out what you’ve got laying around at home!

For the front page, I used felt letter stickers – because I figured they’d be much more uniform than if I cut them! 😀

Last year I started a fun craft project for Leo’s birthday in July: a home-made busy book (a.k.a. quiet book)! Between life, travel, moming, and work I wound up completing it just in time for Christmas. Actually photo finish. I think I finished binding the busy book on Christmas Eve! I had no idea how to make a busy book (and barely remembered how to sew on a button, let alone any other stitches) but thanks to Pinterest and YouTube it worked out quite well.

We try to avoid screen time and the thought is that we can whip out his busy book when we go to restaurants or appointments and he gets bored. Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure we’ll crack and let him watch / play with our phones or an iPad but we always prefer to keep him happy without screens. As Leo gets older he can practice skills like opening and closing zippers and buckles. Perfect to satisfy that nagging feeling of having to provide educational activities. 😉

So now I haveLeo has this hand-made treasure that has a lot of love and sweat from Mom in it. The plan is to make him a new page or two for his birthdays and Christmas. Heck maybe even Easter if I’m feeling crafty. I have so many (in my mind) adorable ideas written down and Pinterest has boatloads of fun designs that are perfect for older toddlers. Here’s to hoping this book is a project that I’ll stick with and that grows with Leo. Honestly, it’s really fun seeing a page come together while the Gilmore Girls are on Netflix. 😀

Some of the page designs are VERY inspired by some of the creative people on Pinterest and Etsy (for example, there are a million pages with dogs and collars out there – hard to give credit unfortunately) but I couldn’t use their pattern because of the size their pages were. So I drew the page in Illustrator, printed it, traced the shapes on felt and sewed everything together.

Other than the pressure to complete the book by Christmas, I had so much fun making Leo’s busy book. I can’t even tell you what part I enjoyed most. Deciding what kind of page to make, designing the pattern for that busy book page, putting it all together…? Most definitely the moment when I gave the book to Leo.

As always when I put in a ton of work creating something (hello weekly planner) I like to share it with the world. Yeah, of course for that nice pat on the back, but more so because designing and making the busy book pages was work. Enough work to be kind of sad about it only having served myself once. So if you’re trying to figure out how to make a busy book and are looking for free busy book page designs I’ll be all too happy to share what I did with you. Your child/niece/nephew/friend’s kid… is going to love and cherish any hand-made treasure – I know I would have as a child so take the time to craft a busy book for them!

How to Sew A Busy Book by Hand

Before digging in, let me share the pages that really helped me remember how to sew. It would have been nice to have a sewing machine but hand-sewing everything wasn’t the end of the world and worked out just fine. So fear not if you haven’t sewn in a while – aside from putting lost buttons back on I also hadn’t picked up a needle in decades (since middle school textile class actually, where I made a crooked pillow case, trapezoid shaped pot holders, and a half finished bag).

Here’s one piece of basic advice for starting with either stitching method: Fold your embroidery floss (yarn) in half and thread it through the needle in a way that the two open strands are near the needle loop. Then, stitch from the back side of the felt to the front but don’t pull the thread all the way through. When the needle is on the back side again, pull it through the remaining loop to secure it without a knot. Then continue with your regular stitches.

YouTube is your friend if you’re still unsure about baste, blanket or back stitches (yep, done that).

Busy Book Supplies

Shopping for craft projects is almost an entirely separate hobby for me (as my enormous stash of beads and gems will testify – sorry Honey!). I just love walking through craft stores to see what fun things I may discover. Amazon, Michaels, and JoAnn’s were where I got most of my loot for the busy book but I always keep my eyes open for fun items. The Target dollar spot is a marvelous source of reasonably priced trinkets and stationary. Always fun. Anyway, here is more about all the things I have used to make Leo’s busy book.

Free Busy Book Page Designs

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Busy Book Title Page with Taggie Sun and Cloud (sharing soon)

Busy Book Vehicle Puzzle Page (sharing soon)

Busy Book Traffic Light Buttoning Page (sharing soon)

Busy Book Lady Bug and Flower Pages (sharing soon)

Busy Book Dog Page (sharing soon)

Busy Book Teeth Brushing Page (Haven’t sewn that one yet but I have the design. Hoping to have it done for Easter! Yay!)

Keep in mind, these are for PERSONAL USE ONLY. If you’d like to sell your sewn pages using my designs, please leave me a comment for a license. You are welcome to link back to this post but please don’t steal and repost on your own site!

Well guys, since this year’s free printable planner was super unexpectedly and overwhelmingly popular I just had to make another one for 2018. Everyone left such sweet comments and some ladies were so grateful and wrote how the planner really helped them get on top of keeping track of habits like meals – I was really touched! So while there are a wealth of planners sold in stores, how could I not create a new one after those comments?!

After lots and lots of coffee, I am excited to share my 2018 weekly and monthly planner with you! Squeal! After a year of pastels I was craving bolder colors and I hope you’ll enjoy this year’s color scheme as much as I do. What do you think of that tropical twist? Good news – since you’ll print it yourself you can always print it in black and white if you prefer.

New Planner Features

Year in Pixels

The new Sannipanni Planner has a few additions that I’m really stoked about like this year in pixels page that’s inspired by the bullet journal community. Pick 5 different colors and fill in the squares. I’ve seen pixel labels along the lines of “amazing, good, alright, bad, and horrific days” or “elated, happy, neutral, sad, and angry moods”.

Cleaning List

The Home Disaster Avoidance Masterplan got a little facelift! I added a daily routine list that’s the bare minimum in my book. The focus zones got a companion list with focus zone tasks. So throughout the year I can easily transpose those that apply into that month’s spread.

Last year I had a disaster preparedness list but when we were preparing for a potential Hurricane Irma thread here in Charlotte this year I didn’t even look at it and just referenced the official FEMA list. So I deleted that list. You can always print your own list and add it to your planner.

Word of The Year

Just today I participated in this really inspiring Word of The Year conversation in one of my Facebook groups. Pick a word that is highly meaningful for you as you think about the year ahead. My planner buddies’ wonderful suggestions included: thrive, grow, breathe, adventure, heal, joy, fun, grit and so many more. I’ll share my personal word of the year with y’all in a future blog post.

Self-Care

One thing I really need to get better about next year is to take care of myself so I don’t burn out. Funny, as a freelance at home mom and pilot wife I feel much more drained than when I had a busy desk job! Obviously as a mom you give and give and give so much super selflessly but man, it is a draining 24/7 job! So in 2018 I definitely want to plan for some self-care TLC for my mind, body and soul. Ya know, mani/pedis, listening to a good podcast, work-out, call a girlfriend and so forth. Loads of great ideas if you google. My planner has space to write down my favorite self-care ideas so when I have a minute or 30 I have ideas at my fingertips and won’t have to waste time.

I also added this wire-modelesque blossom that I’m planning to shade in every time I do something for me. With all the demands of today’s busy world I’m really looking forward to seeing my self-care flower become colorful with bloom.

Meal Planning

I designed little meal plan magnets earlier this year and included the graphic in the planner, too. On the facing page you’ve got meal idea categories that you can fill with your go-to dishes. Then when it comes to picking meals for the week, just pick a meal from each category. Or like me, fill in the gaps between left-overs and restaurant food with a few of them.

Weekly Layout

Not too many changes here. You still have three areas per day: blank area (I use that for appointments, birthdays, etc.), personal to-do list and boss life to-do list. That layout has been working great for me to keep my freelance work and all other areas of life organized. Yay!

I did flip the meal planning and to buy list with the trackers and doodle space. Writing at the inside edge of the planner was kind of a pain this year but I’m hoping filling in trackers will be easy enough to do with the binding right there.

Printing

In 2017 I printed my planner on 5x7in paper, which fit perfectly into a mini binder. But for next year I’d like to go a little bigger but not all the way to 8.5x11in. The planner is designed to be printed on letter sized paper but you can easily scale it down when you print it out of the Adobe Reader. So I’ve played around with different sizes and will print my planner on 7×8.5in, which is half legal size. My plan is to buy legal sized paper and cut it during a Netflix binge session. Printed at 80%, the weekly boxes are 1.5in wide (on my printer anyway), which is the same width as they are in the Erin Condren’s Life Planner. I’m excited to use some of my old stickers! Woot!

Right click on the link and save the file on your computer’s hard drive. Open it in Adobe Reader instead of your browser for better printing. Also choose printing on both sides to create nice spreads.

Binding

If 8.5in x 11in or 5.5in x 8.5in (you’ll have some space at the top and bottom of the pages) is your preferred size (and it’s so easy because you won’t have to do any trimming!), you can just use binders like this letter sized and this smaller one. You’ll also need an adjustable hole-punch for the smaller format.

I searched hi and lo for a binder to work with 7in x 8.5in but couldn’t find one. They seem to all be for narrower 5.5in wide pages and too short for what I want. Luckily, I eventually stumbled across the arc binding system. Hoorah! All I’ll need is a hole-punch and basic arc rings, that I can reuse again next year. There are some fancier metallic ones out there but the reviews don’t sound as promising. So we shall see! Since I won’t have a binder I’ll laminate the front and back covers at FedEx Office.

Useful Supplies

Finding the right supplies to print the planner took a little bit so I’m going to share my findings with you in case you don’t want to shell out a ton of money to have the planner printed and bound at your local copy shop. The planner still looks neat in black and white so that may be a reasonably priced option if you don’t want to print it at home.

Please note, the duplication of this file or any of its parts is strictly prohibited. My planner is free for personal use only. If you’d like to share it, link to this post and not the actual file to make sure you always have access to the latest version of it. Thanks and I hope you’ll love this planner! Can’t wait to hear some of your feedback and suggestions for my 2019 planner! Show me your planner with hashtag #SannipanniPlanner

When Does The 2019 Planner Launch?

If you’d like to be notified when I add new content like an updated planner to this site, make sure you sign up for email notifications on the right (if you’re on a desktop computer) or below (if you’re on a mobile device)!

Some of y’all have asked if you can do anything for me in return. Totally not necessary but I’d love you forever if you make your supply purchases through one of the product links in this post. Doesn’t change the price for you at all but I get a tiny kick-back to help with the hosting costs of the planner and this site. Yay! Thanks so much!!

Well folks, the struggle is real, since our toddler now demands real food, our days of grabbing a frozen meal or ordering take-out / going out have dwindled down. Too much salt for the little one. And let’s be honest, going out with a toddler can be a tiny bit stressful.

Gone are the days that I’d go meet a friend out for sushi, then have a date at whatever restaurant, and then maybe eat something at happy hour at a bar. All that was left to do was fill the other nights with something edible, be it cereal or some delicious meal, for which I had all the time in the world to cook and eat. Now there’d better be food on the table at 6pm or Leo turns into an ankle biter. He’s in a phase right now where most things are just disgusting to him and he winds up eating a slice of toast but we continue to offer everything we eat. Then, every few days he’ll surprise me and mow down whatever we’re eating. It’s super random.

Meal Planning for Our Family

So I’ve been doing the grown-up thing and been making an effort to plan out what we’re going to eat each week. I can only handle so many days with a sudden panic attack at 5:30pm, no clue what to cook and no ingredients on hand. Mom-ing is tough enough as is.

My trusted planner has a section for weekly meal planning, which takes away that panicky moment (so long as I actually went grocery shopping!) but that still leaves the question, what the heck should we eat this week?! I consider myself a foodie so eating the same 10 or so rotating meals is really unsatisfying for me.

Alas, I’ve come up with this little system that seems to work well for us. I pick meals based on these categories: salad, pasta, something made on the grill, seafood, breakfast for dinner, something made in the crock-pot, and global cuisine. Since I don’t feel like cooking every day (because it’s ridiculously hard to do that when your toddler wants to hug your legs and I’m lazy by nature), my meal plan for the week always includes leftovers. You bet. I also shuffle the meals around as the week goes by or say, screw it, and we go out or pick something up. But the list helps. Tremendously!

Shutterfly had a promo for free magnets and that motivated me to turn this informal list of meal categories into a magnet for my fridge. I designed these graphics (yay, your choice of color!) and thought I’d share in case someone else struggles with meal ideas, too. They truly are pretty good inspiration for me when it comes to picking meals for the week.

A dish will often immediately come to my mind when I think about grilling or Asian or Tex-Mex food (“global cuisine”). If I still struggle, I grab my magazine recipe collection or search on Pinterest. Checking what’s on sale that week helps, too.

So here they are, my little meal planning helpers! Download (right click and “Save Image” or hold down long on your iphone and save to your camera roll) and print or turn them into a magnet. Happy cooking and I hope they’ll keep your family from going hangry!